John Stamos will star in and produce a Lifetime original movie based on the true story of two multi-millionaire brothers who “both married the women of their dreams and wound up dead,” network officials said Friday.
Killing Mr. Kissel is scheduled to premiere in November on Lifetime Television.
“People are fascinated by the private lives of the rich and there is a part of all of us that wants to have the lifestyle that money brings,” Tanya Lopez, Lifetime’s senior vice president, original movies, said in a statement. “While entertaining, this story—about one family's quest for the American dream that spiraled out of control—also reminds us to ‘be careful what you wish for.’”
Killing Mr. Kissel is produced by Dairy Road Films, Inc. for Lifetime Television. Dan Wigutow (Lifetime's Murder on Pleasant Drive, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman) is executive producer, Stamos is the producer and Michael Scott (Lifetime's Tell Me No Lies and Murder on Pleasant Drive) is co-executive producer. Ed Bianchi (Madmen) directs from a script written by Maria Nation (Lifetime's The Tenth Circle, Icebound).
In Killing Mr. Kissel, real estate mogul Andrew Kissel (Stamos) marries sporty blond ski instructor, Hayley Wolff (Gretchen Egolf, Journeyman), while his younger brother Rob Kissel (Anson Mount, Conviction), a New York investment banker, marries social climber Nancy Keeshin (Robin Tunney). On the surface, it seems that both the Kissel brothers are starting idyllic families.
But after Rob moves his family to Hong Kong for a promotion, Nancy grows to resent his long work hours. In retaliation, Nancy begins a torrid affair and ultimately kills Rob by drugging him and bludgeoning him to death, igniting worldwide media frenzy.
Years later, Andrew is caught embezzling millions of dollars to support his increasingly lavish lifestyle and drug addiction. With the courts breathing down his neck, former business partners turning on him, and a frustrated and embarrassed wife filing for divorce, Andrew is found dead in the basement of his Greenwich mansion. The question remains: was Andrew murdered by one of his many enemies, or did he arrange it himself in order to escape his living nightmare?
